Film reviews by nationality

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Yesterday, yours truly went to the screening of the comedy The Trotsky (my review here) at the Cinéma du parc, which was organized by the Festival du nouveau cinéma. Obviously, before the screening started, a lady came to the front of the room and told to the audience (which was quite big) that a Q&A period will be hosted by Jacob Tierney, the director of The Trotsky, and the lovely Emily Hampshire, one of the film's stars, after the presentation of the film.

Obviously, besides telling us how the ideas about this film fell into place for him, Tierney also talked about other projects that we should be expecting.

1. International release:Whether you expected it or not, the first questions that were asked by some people was whether the film will get an international release (read: USA and Europe). First of all, Jacob Tierney told us that he hopes that the film will get an American release, which could imply that he's working on it. As for an European release, he added that the first foreign movie distribution company ever that got interested in The Trotsky hailed [pause from me for a dramatic effect] from Russia.

2. Film festivals and other projects:Later on, someone asked if the film toured other film festivals besides the Festival du nouveau cinéma. In order to be brief, Tierney said that the film was presented at the latest Toronto International Film Festival. Afterwards, he mentioned that after the FNC, his film will be presented at the next Tokyo International Film Festival and that will be all. In fact, he confided that he intends to work on his next film called Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, which is a name of a borough in Montreal. What is this film about? Well, so far, we know that the film is a dark comedy that takes place during the referendum of 1995 on the separation of Quebec.

3. The origin of The Trotsky's script:Apparently, Jacob Tierney grew up in a more or less leftist family and he spent some time of his childhood in China. Other than that, Tierney wrote the first draft of the film's script when he was 20 years old. Why a film on Leon Trotsky? Well, Tierney talked about his interest on the real Leon Trotsky's life per se (not necessarily about his political views).

4. Shooting location:

Anyone who saw the film could tell that the film was shot in Montreal. However, there was one question hanging: what school did the filming crew use? Apparently, the scenes in the school of the character of Leon were shot at Lakeside Academy, a high school located in the borough of Lachine in Montreal (which was renamed Montreal West High School in the film). Of course, a handful of students from this school were there during the screening of the film.

5. Canadian release:The film will be in theatres in 2010 and the Canadian distributor (Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm) is working on the marketing of the film. Apparently, the release will probably be during the summer or the back-to-school period.

Yesterday, yours truly went to the screening of the comedy The Trotsky (my review here) at the Cinéma du parc, which was organized by the Festival du nouveau cinéma. Obviously, before the screening started, a lady came to the front of the room and told to the audience (which was quite big) that a Q&A period will be hosted by Jacob Tierney, the director of The Trotsky, and the lovely Emily Hampshire, one of the film's stars, after the presentation of the film.

Obviously, besides telling us how the ideas about this film fell into place for him, Tierney also talked about other projects that we should be expecting.

1. International release:Whether you expected it or not, the first questions that were asked by some people was whether the film will get an international release (read: USA and Europe). First of all, Jacob Tierney told us that he hopes that the film will get an American release, which could imply that he's working on it. As for an European release, he added that the first foreign movie distribution company ever that got interested in The Trotsky hailed [pause from me for a dramatic effect] from Russia.

2. Film festivals and other projects:Later on, someone asked if the film toured other film festivals besides the Festival du nouveau cinéma. In order to be brief, Tierney said that the film was presented at the latest Toronto International Film Festival. Afterwards, he mentioned that after the FNC, his film will be presented at the next Tokyo International Film Festival and that will be all. In fact, he confided that he intends to work on his next film called Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, which is a name of a borough in Montreal. What is this film about? Well, so far, we know that the film is a dark comedy that takes place during the referendum of 1995 on the separation of Quebec.

3. The origin of The Trotsky's script:Apparently, Jacob Tierney grew up in a more or less leftist family and he spent some time of his childhood in China. Other than that, Tierney wrote the first draft of the film's script when he was 20 years old. Why a film on Leon Trotsky? Well, Tierney talked about his interest on the real Leon Trotsky's life per se (not necessarily about his political views).

4. Shooting location:

Anyone who saw the film could tell that the film was shot in Montreal. However, there was one question hanging: what school did the filming crew use? Apparently, the scenes in the school of the character of Leon were shot at Lakeside Academy, a high school located in the borough of Lachine in Montreal (which was renamed Montreal West High School in the film). Of course, a handful of students from this school were there during the screening of the film.

5. Canadian release:The film will be in theatres in 2010 and the Canadian distributor (Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm) is working on the marketing of the film. Apparently, the release will probably be during the summer or the back-to-school period.